CBN staff grumble over promotion

Posted by admin CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria), Headlines Sunday, November 13th, 2011

A staff crisis looms in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over an alleged non-elevation of many workers who are long due to be promoted.

Before the assumption of office of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of the CBN in 2009, it was gathered that staff members of the apex bank were promoted on the basis of a 2006 policy which stipulated promotion examinations and annual appraisals as criteria.

For the executive grade, from assistant director upwards, a third criterion, which is oral interview, was required.
The policy, put in place by immediate past CBN governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, also stipulated that to qualify for promotion, a staffer required a minimum of three favourable annual appraisals, and that an annual appraisal could be done as early as six months into the year. This made it effectively possible for staffers to be promoted within two and a half years.

Also, the whole process then was perceived as transparent, as promotions lists were publicly displayed, while “open days” were organised for aggrieved staff members to sight their answer scripts and point out possible errors in marking or adding of their scores, for rectification.

However, on assumption of office, Mallam Sanusi allegedly suspended the policy, cancelled the 2009 end-of-year promotion examination, scheduled to start on June 1, 2010, at the last minute, and had since adopted an haphazard method of promoting staff which many considered to be subjective. Aside from haphazard promotions, the CBN governor now allegedly fills vacancies within the organisation, especially in the senior and executive grades, with new employments/appointments, without any form of advertisement or regard to the principle of quota system.

An aggrieved staff member who spoke anonymously said: “Some people who failed in the 2003, 2004 and 2009 mass recruitment exercises have been offered employment by Sanusi, and placed above those of us who were employed earlier and on merit.” After cancelling the 2009 examination, Mallam Sanusi, it was learnt, released a “2008 supplementary promotion list” based on no known criteria. The list, it was learnt, included staff members who had just returned from study leave with pay, and did not write any promotion examination because they did not have the required three appraisals. He later released a second 2008 supplementary list comprising those who had spent five years on a grade, irrespective of their appraisals.

Particularly aggrieved with Sanusi, it was learnt, were those in the Senior Manager cadre, who were hoping to be promoted to the post of assistant director, the lowest rung in the executive cadre. The CBN Governor, it was learnt, had introduced a new grade of principal manager before they could cross to the upper cadre.
It was further learnt that in May 2011, he came up with new promotions criteria, as well as examination/interview timetable. However, he cancelled examination to and within the executive cadre, retaining only appraisal and interview for them.

-Sunwp_posts